


Make A Brand New Ground

by JazzaTheBunny



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Also a bit of Louis/Eleanor, And a mention of Zayn/Perrie, And an overuse of italics I hadn't noticed until now, F/M, Female Liam, Female Zayn, Genderswap, I apologize for British teens being written by an American
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-01
Updated: 2013-01-01
Packaged: 2017-11-23 04:19:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/618004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JazzaTheBunny/pseuds/JazzaTheBunny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam hasn't always had a thing for Tom Daley, but it has been a while. She's kept it relatively quiet until now, the worst possible time—during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make A Brand New Ground

**Author's Note:**

> This was inspired by a prompt on the [Girl Direction Fic Fest](http://catchmelike.livejournal.com/1656625.html) and also by these [pictures](http://kidneythepayne.tumblr.com/post/29422546451/he-met-them-when-they-were-just-fetuses-i-cant) and [articles](http://www.sugarscape.com/main-topics/lads/757526/liam-payne-gets-tom-daleys-number-and-asks-him-out) and [tweets](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7zqby246G1qi3j3ko1_1280.jpg). Title from the Sara Bareilles song "Let The Rain."

If Liam were to place the blame on anyone, it'd be on Niall, but she was always very bad at holding Niall responsible for things he'd done wrong. Something about the Irish charm, probably, and the fact that he has a track record of unknowingly saying things in interviews that embarrass the other members of the band. It was probably just Liam's turn.

Besides, it's not like Niall had actually done anything wrong. If anyone was in the wrong, it was Liam, as she had been lying for the past year and a half. Just to the press, but still. Lying was bad, even when done to avoid the ridiculous media attention Liam was now suffering through.

Being part of a teen (because Louis being twenty was something he encouraged all of them to ignore) band, they were _constantly_ being asked about their personal lives, romance, and the like. And for the entire time One Direction had existed, Liam had skillfully answered these questions in a polite manner while still managing not to give away much information. But a week earlier, Liam's carefully thought-out strategy had failed.

"So we know that Louis and Zayn are in relationships, but what about the rest of you? Any celebrity crushes?" the interviewer asked. Liam sighed, and next to her Louis flashed a self-satisfied smile. Just because _he_ was dating Eleanor and was free from answering these repeatedly asked questions...

"What about you, Liam? Any boys caught your eye?"

"Uh..." Liam stumbled a bit, thrown off by having apparently missed both Harry’s and Niall's answers. "I really don't have, like, a specific celebrity that I, um..."

Taking Liam's momentary pause as a cue to annoyingly goad her for more information, the interviewer interrupted with, "There isn't _anyone_? We know that you were to be a contender for this year's Olympics before X-Factor—have any members of Team GB caught your eye?"

Liam, to her credit, was completely prepared to continue with her usual lie in regards to celebrity crushes because this, this _leading the witness_ business, was not something she was about to fall for. Not when she'd spent this much time keeping quiet about—

"You know," said a voice that was far too masculine and Irish to be Liam's, "Liam _was_ reading an article about Tom Daley on her phone yesterday."

"Really?" Louis asked, the mischievous glint in his eyes making Liam dread what he was about to say. Though she took comfort in the fact that he had cut off the interviewer's response, however unintentionally. "Because I'm certain I saw her watching a video about his dives last week."

"Last time I borrowed Li's laptop," Zayn then cut in, and Liam couldn't restrain the flash of panic that shot across her face, because that sentence and _this interview for that matter_ was definitely not about to end well, "one of her tabs was Tom Daley dot tv, I think."

"That's the last of me letting you use my laptop," Liam muttered into her lap, though she doubted Zayn could hear her from across the couch they were crammed together on. When she looked up and to the right, where her four bandmates were seated, she was met with four smiling faces.

Harry leaned forward in his spot between Niall and Zayn to smirk directly at Liam. "So you've got a thing for Tom Daley, then?"

"I don't—" Liam started, but she could already feel a slight warmth spreading across her cheeks. Besides, she knew that she wouldn't be able to lie properly when looking into her friends' eyes, so she took a deep breath and faced the interviewer. "It's not that I have a _thing_ for Tom Daley, alright? I just—I was reading an article about young people in the Olympics, because I was rather sporty in school and I'm very excited for the games. And the video was of the whole dive team, not just Tom. And I had his official website open because... because..."

"Sounds like Liam Payne fancies Tom Daley!" the interviewer announced, and Liam knew what the most popular part of this interview was going to be. She opened her mouth to speak, but she wasn't entirely sure what to say, other than _No, I do not fancy Tom Daley_ , which at that point would have convinced absolutely no one, so she was actually a bit grateful when the next voice she heard was Zayn's.

"Doesn't _everyone_ fancy Tom Daley?" she asked in a voice that sounds less-that-impressed, and Liam was grateful that someone had finally had enough of this line of questioning that was clearly _ruining Liam's life_. "He's well fit."

With those words, Liam forgave Zayn for the Tom Daley dot tv confession earlier, because there was no quicker way for Zayn to get on management's bad side than her bringing up the fact that she is openly bisexual. Of course, there was also no quicker way to encourage an interview to be wrapped up, so after awkward goodbyes and insincere—on Liam's part, at least—thank yous, the five of them were ushered out of the building, through a small crowd of fans, and into their waiting van. Taking her seat, Liam immediately rested her head against the window and closed her eyes, though it didn't take long for the uncomfortable feeling of being stared at to settle in. Thankfully, her friends must have sensed her discomfort with the day's events and took a break from their usual let's-all-bother-Liam tactics.

 

Until the next day, that is.

"Hey Liam, have you been on Twitter at all today?" Niall asked in the van on the way to the day's photoshoot, looking up from his phone with a curiously serious expression.

After yesterday's interview, Liam figured that it was _completely_ normal that her thoughts immediately jumped to Tom Daley.

"No, I haven't. Why?"

"A lot of fans have been tweeting... I'll send you the link," Niall responded. After an indignant noise from Louis, Niall clarified, "I'll send you _all_ the link."

**ONE DIRECTION'S LIAM PAYNE FANCIES TEAM GB GOLDEN BOY TOM DALEY?**

"Oh god," Liam groaned, "just the headline is embarrassing!" She read the rest of the article with a growing sense of dread.

_CAN YOU IMAGINE THE PUPPY-DOG EYES IN THAT COUPLE?_

_It seems that after the years of One Direction's good girl Liam Payne keeping her romantic interests to herself, she's decided to come out with a crush—and not on bandmates Harry Styles or Niall Horan, much to our surprise (and slight disappointment—we love our Niam), but on Olympic diver Tom Daley._

_In an interview yesterday, the less mature 4/5 of One Direction appeared to work together to encourage a flustered Liam to admit an attraction to the athlete, just in time for the Olympics. Maybe Tom will get a medal and a girlfriend during the London 2012 games?_

_The pair met in 2010, while the group was still on The X-Factor, but they don't seem to have spent time together since. It appears Liam, like us, tends to admire from afar. No word yet on whether Tom reciprocates the feelings, but it's something we'll be sure to ask about next time we see the object of Liam's affections._

_Click next for pics of Liam being adorable and Tom being adorably fit..._

"'—Something we'll be sure to ask about next time we see the object of Liam's affections'?" she quoted, eyes widening as she looked up from her phone and met the gaze of each of her bandmates before settling on Niall's, which seemed the most sympathetic. "They're not actually going to do that, are they?"

"Judging by how much people bug me and Demi? I'd be surprised if someone didn't ask him today."

"Oh god," Liam repeated, burying her head in her hands.

"Why are you so worried about this?" Louis asked, chuckling slightly and wrapping an arm around Liam's shoulder to pull her closer. She leaned into his side, pressing her face into his collar. Despite all the trouble he liked to cause for her, Louis was like an older brother to Liam, and she felt very much in need of his protection at that moment.

"It's just so embarrassing," Liam grumbled into Louis' shirt. "Because I _know_ him, and you guys made me sound like a stalker, and it's right around the Olympics so he'll think that we just did it for the publicity even though I've actually fancied him for a while, and not just because he's fit..."

"How long is a while?" Harry asked, but Liam just shook her head in response, still not removing her face from where it was safely hidden in Louis' clothing. Of course, her bandmates couldn't let her refusal last long.

"Hey," Louis said softly, placing his fingers along Liam's jaw and encouraging her to lift her head and look him in the eyes. "We didn't realize this was so serious, otherwise we wouldn't have brought it up in the interview. We thought it was just like Niall and Demi, you know? But you're obviously upset, so I think you've been hiding this from us, yeah?"

"Yeah..." Liam sighed, both accepting the group's unspoken apology and admitting that she'd been keeping the whole Tom Daley thing secret for quite some time. "I mean, I guess I've been hiding this for a while..."

"How long is a while?" Harry asked again, and Liam couldn't blame her bandmates for laughing before Harry prompted, "Since X-Factor?"

"Before, actually." At her bandmates' confused looks, Liam clarified, "I've always been really interested in the Olympics, you know? And I like watching diving, so I've been following him since the games in China."

"Since 2008?" Zayn finally spoke up, and Liam couldn't help but blush at her disbelieving tone. "Oh, Li, you're very serious about this, aren't you? Why didn't you tell us?" She looked around the van at their three male bandmates before rolling her eyes and adding, "Or at least tell _me_? And why haven't you talked to him?"

"It's weird, though!" Liam protested, waving her hands in the air frantically as though that would help her bandmates understand her underlying sense of panic. "What would I _do_? Tweet at him like our fans tweet at us? And even if he noticed and didn't find that creepy, there's no way he'd go for me even if I _could_ pluck up the nerve to talk to him. I'm not like you."

"Oh, not this again!" Zayn huffed, throwing herself back against her seat and crossing her arms dramatically.

"What? What's happening?" Niall asked.

"Liam's feeling insecure about her good-girl image again."

Much to Liam's surprise, Harry was the next to speak. " _I don't get it_. Just because our stylists don't put you in short skirts like Zayn's doesn't mean you aren't well fit. You go to the gym more than anyone else I know—there's a reason you get put in tight tops and jeans—and you're amazing and anyone, even Tom Daley, would be lucky to date you."

Liam launched herself out of her seat to hug Harry, ignoring the fact that they were in a moving vehicle and Zayn's sigh of, "I tell you that _all the time_."

And once again, the subject was dropped as the band posed for pictures for... something. All of those types of things had started blending together since they'd gotten back from their U.S. tour. Liam didn't _forget_ about Tom or the Sugarscape article or her bandmates' insistence that she actually talk to him, of course, but she was able to nudge the thoughts into a corner of her mind instead of front and center for the majority of the day.

 

She was watching a movie with Harry and Louis in their flat later that evening when the universe decided it'd had enough of her avoidance.

"I'm getting a lot of tweets with links..." Liam frowned at her phone. "And everyone's talking about a video? Did someone find a video from the shoot today, d'you think?" Liam clicked on a tweet at random, as they all seemed to be linking to the same thing, and tapped her fingers against the back of her phone as it loaded.

"I'm not getting any more tweets than usual," Harry shrugged. "Lou?"

Louis shook his head before saying, "But did you see what's trending?"

" _Tom! Tom! Are you nervous about the Olympics? Tom! Take your shirt off! Tom!_ "

"Oh my god!" Liam tossed her phone away from herself almost involuntarily. It landed on the empty chair next to the couch they were all sitting on, face up so that the video kept playing.

" _Tom! I have a question! Tom!_ "

"So the tweets are about—"

"Obviously, Harry. _Tom Daley and Liam Payne_ is trending. It sounds like a fan video to me. Liam," Louis paused, looking over at the girl staring wide-eyed at the phone, from which teenage girl screams were still sounding, "it's a fan video, right?"

"He's going into a restaurant," Liam responded in a strangely level voice, given the shriek of panic she'd just emitted. "And there are a bunch of girls and they're screaming. But they haven't mentioned me yet. So."

" _Tom! Did you hear about Liam from One Direction?!_ "

" _What? What about One Direction?_ "

Liam's whole upper half seemed to jerk back with the force of her inhale at the sound of Tom Daley's voice asking about _her_ band.

" _She fancies you! Has for_ years!"

" _Really? Liam... Liam's the really fit one, right?_ "

Liam figured that she was probably imagining the nervous waver in Tom's voice. Not that it mattered, after all, as the "fit" one was obviously Zayn. She buried her head between her knees.

" _No, that's Zayn._ "

" _No_ ," Tom's voice insisted. " _I mean, Zayn's fit, yeah, but Liam's got the curly hair, right? We talked about sports when I met them when they were on X-Factor._ "

" _Does that mean you fancy her as well? You'd be so adorable together!_ "

" _I—Sorry, I have to go! I'm meeting some of my teammates!_ "

" _Tom! Tom!_ "

After the last fan cries, Liam, Harry, and Louis were left in silence. Momentarily.

"So..." Harry began, the smile on his face evident in his voice as he stared at the side of Liam's head, which was still planted firmly between her knees. "He didn't say he _doesn't_ fancy you. _And_ he said you're more fit than Zayn!"

"Zayn is going to be so offended when she finds out. Not that being called less fit than you is _offensive_ , Li."

Liam couldn't stop herself from giggling into her legs, and swiftly lifted her head so that Harry and Louis wouldn't confuse her shaking shoulders for sobbing. "Thank you for clarifying, Louis."

"Well, this is quite the attitude change," Louis teased, poking at Liam's side and causing her to squirm away. "Wasn't it you who was moping about in the van earlier? Moaning about how some Olympic golden boy wouldn't look twice at you with Zayn around?"

"I predict a different type of moaning in the near future," Harry added, voice low.

Liam stopped giggling and pulled her lower lip between her teeth. "That... That's gross, Harry."

"Harry!" Louis exclaimed, shoving the boy in the shoulder. "You're going to scare our poor Liam! I don't want her to go all red and stammery whenever she sees Tom the next few weeks!"

"Wait, seeing Tom? Soon?" Liam asked, panicked.

"Yes, soon, like when we attend various Olympic events prior to performing in the closing ceremony?" Louis stared at Liam. "You couldn't possibly have forgotten."

Liam felt it best not to respond.

 

It wasn't that Liam was _nervous_ , exactly. It was more like... slightly anxious excitement. Because she was actually _at_ the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, where she and four of her best friends would be _performing_ in just thirteen days. It had absolutely nothing to do with the event she was about to attend. Or a certain someone who was competing.

"Liam!" She jumped as Niall grabbed her right wrist, pulling her fingernails away from where they had been firmly planted between her teeth for the last twenty minutes. After a moment, he grabbed her left wrist as well, holding them loosely in one hand as he placed his other on her shoulder. "You've had these tickets for months. Stop being so nervous."

"I'm not _nervous_ ," Liam protested. She tried to school her facial expression into something neutral, something between the furrowed-brow frown and the ridiculously wide smile that she couldn't seem to decide between. She knew that both would be embarrassing when captured in the inevitable photos and would cause Zayn and Harry to mock her later. "I'm _excited_. We're at the Olympics!"

"We're about to watch _diving_ at the Olympics. Nervous about that?"

"I—" Liam paused as her frown took over for a moment. She leaned in to Niall a bit, lowering her voice in case someone walked by and considered eavesdropping. "When I got the tickets I expected to just watch him dive, you know? And maybe take a few pictures with fans, if anyone wanted one. But now people are looking for me, and everyone knows that I fancy him, and if he sees me in the crowd it might actually _mean_ something."

Liam was surprised that Niall didn't verbally respond to her confession, instead just smiling at her in that ray-of-sunshine manner of his, releasing her wrists. Liam immediately rubbed her free hand against the side of her jean-clad leg anxiously. The movement caught Niall's attention, and he chuckled.

"So that's why you dressed up, eh? Because it might _mean_ something?"

"I didn't dress up! I'm wearing jeans! Does it look like I dressed up?"

" _Skinny_ jeans, Li. They look like the jeans Zayn wears when she's forced to cover her legs. I didn't mean that you look like you're going to a club or anything. But you look good. Maybe too good." Niall released Liam's wrist and gently tugged on the back of her top where the hem wasn't quite reaching the waistband of her jeans.

"Well thank you, I think."

 

It didn't take long for Liam to regret her decision to invite Niall, of all people, to watch the diving with her. Sure, he was least likely to embarrass her publicly and he was very interested in the sport itself, but Liam quickly decided he was _too_ interested.

"Oh my god, Niall, I don't know why they had to make scoring so complicated, either!" She considered dramatically dropping her head into her hands, but she didn't want to risk missing anything important.

"I'm sorry, I just don't get it," Niall said. "Why do they multiply _twice_? This isn't _maths_ , it's _sports_."

"Oh my god," Liam groaned again. "I knew I should have invited Zayn!"

Niall burst out laughing. "Yeah, right! She'd've spent the whole time texting Perrie, and talking about how she wishes Perrie could be here, and making ridiculous pouty faces like in that interview when none of us said we'd date her." Niall punctuated that statement with a wonderful impression of Zayn's trademark pout, which caused Liam to laugh and smack his arm.

"Good point, but focus. I don't want to get kicked out because you're being obnoxious, or something."

"Because I'm being obnoxious?! What about how you're acting all... shifty? Like you're about to rip off your clothes and streak through the centre or something."

Liam sputtered out a "What?!" in response.

"I know you're not actually going to streak. God." Niall laughed. "But you're being fidgety. And you keep looking over at the waiting divers and then looking away really fast. Could this be about a _certain_ diver?" Liam only blushed in response. "Li, you said you being here could _mean something_ , but it won't mean anything if he doesn't even see your face."

"I never should have said anything" Liam mumbled before sighing. "I know. Okay. From now on, I will not be shifty." She sat up straighter, wiggling in her seat a bit to get comfortable, and focused on two men currently preparing to dive, neither of which were Tom Daley, she noted sadly.

"Next time can we see something with some Irish in it?" Niall asked before turning his attention back to the pool as well.

And if Liam got a bit too emotional when Tom and his partner placed fourth, and if she was about ninety-five percent sure she'd caught Tom's eye when he was waiting on the sidelines to do his fourth dive and he smiled _right at her_ , well, those were things she thought best kept to herself.

 

The next day, Niall took great joy in reenacting Liam's frantic exit from the aquatic centre immediately following the event so as to avoid running into someone (she just wasn't _ready_ for this. A girl needs time to _prepare_ —and no, she did not mean making helpful conversation flashcards, like Louis mockingly suggested) and Zayn spent a good half hour critiquing the pictures from the day that Sugarscape had posted, the overwhelming favorite of which was a terrible Photoshop of her next to a Speedo-clad Tom.

At the end of the day, Liam's favorite moment was when Harry cornered her as she was leaving the toilet, which would have been awkward had it not been for the conversation that followed. "I saw your tweet to Tom," Harry had announced, causing Liam to blush. "It was adorable and surprisingly foul. I'm sure he appreciated it."

"Thanks, Harry," Liam smiled, still blushing. She felt that Harry wasn't quite finished, but she wasn't sure where the conversation could be going.

"Honestly, who wouldn't want to teen pop sensation defending their honor against 'dickheads' on Twitter?" Harry added, grinning.

"Oh, shut up!" Liam laughed, shoving Harry's shoulder playfully as they made their way back to where the others were gathered (but if it was a little harder than usual, well, she figured that was justified) before scolding, "That was a very touching moment and you ruined it!"

"Why are you talking about touching?" Niall asked, furrowing his brows as he walked past them and out of the kitchen.

 

And because Liam liked to be on top of everyone's schedules, even those of people she was barely acquainted with, she was aware that she could go anywhere over the next six days without risking a run-in with Tom, and she took advantage of that fact, dragging her bandmates (even a reluctant Harry) to various Olympic events with a level of enthusiasm that resulted in many eye-rolls in her direction.

Until the day of the men's 10 metre platform diving preliminaries, that is. Then it was everyone else's turn to relish how _nervous_ Liam was.

"I've changed my mind. I want Niall to come with me," Liam announced, exiting her bedroom and standing dramatically in the entryway to her living room where her four bandmates were waiting, even though only Louis (and Eleanor) planned on attending the event with her.

"I told you, I'm not fucking watching diving again," Niall responded before adding, "No offense. But it's boring. _And_ no one's representing Team Ireland."

Liam huffed, shooting a half-hearted glare in Niall's direction, because she had honestly expected that answer. "Harry?" She turned her glare into a pout and shifted her gaze to where he was sitting, attention on his phone.

"I've got plans with Nick, actually," Harry offered, to his credit looking at least minorly regretful.

"Zayn?" Liam asked quietly, fidgeting with the hem of dress she'd been reluctant to put on, but that Zayn had insisted on. It wasn't that Liam disliked dresses, exactly, but she was usually more comfortable in jeans, which was why Zayn had wanted her to mix things up.

"Liam, no. Why don't you want to go with them anyway? You don't even have an extra ticket, and Louis's not going without Eleanor."

"I _know_ ," Liam sighed before spinning on her heel and returning to her bedroom, where she pulled the dress over her head and yelled out, "I just know that Louis and Eleanor are going to use my awkward third-wheel status to force me to talk to Tom." She ignored Louis' indignant snort in response and pulled on a high-waisted skirt that she'd kept hidden from Zayn during the preliminary outfit planning—it was shorter than anything else she'd ever worn while not being _scandalous_ , as it was a present from her older sisters, after all—and the deep blue top that Zayn had claimed was a "suitable option" before continuing, "I don't know _how_ they'll do it, but I'm certain they will."

"You have so little faith in me," Louis said, and Liam could picture him gripping his chest dramatically. "Just like I have little faith that we'll get to the centre before the event's over. Are you nearly done, then?"

"Liam, you had better not be changing again!" Liam lightly ran her hand over her hair, which Zayn had helped her form into loose curls, and over the front of her outfit, smoothing out any potential wrinkles, as she made her way back to her bandmates before Zayn rushed into her room and forcibly removed her.

"This is the last time, I think," she muttered, looking up at her bandmates as she walked into the room, where her arm was immediately grabbed by Zayn.

"You _think_? _Where_ was that skirt when we were looking through your closet?"

Liam shrugged, as it was better than explaining her lack of confidence and having Zayn and Harry scold her again. "Okay, that's it, you're leaving now, before you can second-guess this. You and Louis can wait for Eleanor outside." Zayn firmly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her toward the door. Liam barely managed to grab her jacket and purse on the way out and direct a frantic wave at the three bandmates that weren't accompanying her.

 

After a worrisome preliminary diving round—during which Liam was _not_ perched on the edge of her seat and did _not_ bite her nails nervously the whole time, no matter what Louis may say to the contrary—Liam was not at all surprised to find herself being dramatically pushed in the direction of a sweatpant-clad Tom Daley as Eleanor and Louis posed for pictures with fans that Louis appeared to actively seek out. The lengths her bandmate would go to in order to force this interaction actually surprised Liam. Not that she had much time to contemplate that, as the momentum from the push was carrying her to the space in front of Tom that had just been vacated by someone Liam hadn't managed to take note of, and it wasn't long before she was looking at the smiling face of Tom Daley, a face she hadn't seen in person for in almost two years.

"Um... hi?"...for Liam to make totally awkward by being unable to raise her voice above a mumble and holding out her hand for a formal handshake in greeting.

"Liam!" Tom basically cheered, clearly still buzzed from his qualifying for the semifinals. He sort of jumped at Liam, his body bumping her outstretched arm out of the way as he wrapped his arms around her middle. If Liam melted into his _still shirtless_ body a bit, well, who could blame her? "It's been so long!"

"It has!" Liam nodded against his shoulder. She waited until the hug had ended and they'd each taken a small step back to add, "Congratulations!"

"Thank you," Tom said, beaming. "Congratulations on performing!"

Liam shook her head. "Don't say congratulations yet, I may still screw it up and forget the words or something!"

"You'll be amazing," Tom said with certainty. After a slight pause he asked, "Are you here alone, or...?"

"No!" Liam took a breath and restarted her sentence in a less panicky tone. "Oh, uh, no, Louis and Eleanor are here somewhere. They've abandoned me, but I expected it."

Tom laughed, and Liam felt herself smiling her widest, squinty-eyed smile, the one that Zayn and Harry especially enjoyed teasing her about. "Well thank you for coming anyway."

"I wouldn't have missed it," Liam said without thinking. "I mean... I'm a massive fan of diving, and sports in general, and of course I hope to see you win, go Team Great Britain! and all that."

"Of course," Tom replied. Liam had been so focused on his eyes, adorably lit up by his smile, that she immediately noticed when he face took on a slightly more serious expression. "I just wanted to say thank you for your tweet after synchro. I know I didn't respond, but I really appreciated it."

Liam wasn't sure how to respond to that, so she shot Tom a shy smile before an idea struck her and she blurted it out before she could reconsider, "D'you think that maybe, after the games, you'd want to have a night out? It could be just us, or I could invite the rest of the band, or you could invite some friends, or both, but I just... I think you deserve a great night out. Somewhere."

Tom smiled widely. "That sounds great!"

"Yeah?" Liam pulled out her phone before she lost her nerve, "Should I get your number, then, to plan everything?" She held her breath as Tom took the device and added his information.

"I'm sorry, but I should go..." Tom started as he handed it back.

"Oh, of course!"

"Yeah, but I'm really looking forward to this! Whatever you end up planning." Tom took a few steps backward before waving adorably and spinning around, quickly getting lost in the crowd.

Liam tried to hide her smile as she made her way back through the mass of people to where Louis and Eleanor were waiting, but if the smug look on Louis' face was any indication, she had failed miserably.

**LIAM PAYNE GETS TOM DALEY'S NUMBER—AND ASKS HIM OUT**

_IS THERE A NEW ROMANCE IN THE CARDS?_

_Liam Payne was always destined to be a caring girlfriend, wasn't she? After hearing about scum-of-the-earth trolls tweeting abuse at ~~her future boyfriend~~ Tom Daley recently, she only waited a week before asking for his phone number and offering to take the diving love-god on a "great night out" to cheer him up._

"You _got his number_?" Louis shot a glare at Niall, who had interrupted his dramatic reading of the latest Sugarscape article in the van on the way to rehearsals for their Olympic performance. "Way to go Liam!"

"I _told_ you that already," Louis huffed, shoving at Niall's shoulder before sighing and giving up on reading the article because he was sure at least two people in van weren't paying attention to him. "Zayn just likes that Liam got Tom's number so now she'll stop trying so hard and Zayn can be the hot one again," he joked.

"Shut _up_ ," Zayn groaned, but she grinned anyway as she leaned over and flicked at Liam's ponytail. "Besides, Li's definitely still trying. Can't stop staring at her legs in those jeans, to be honest."

Liam blushed and likely would have thanked Zayn for the compliment and issued one in response, but she was preoccupied with trying to find someone reliably livetweeting the diving semifinals. "I wish we didn't have to go to rehearsal this morning," she muttered bitterly.

"I can't believe you're already trying to give up your interests for Tom," Harry said.

Liam actually looked up from her phone at that. "I'm not—I don't—I _like_ diving—" she sighed. "I can't tell if you're being serious or sarcastic right now, Harry." Harry shot her a wide smile, and Liam looked down at her lap as the rest of her bandmates laughed. "I'd just really like to be able to see the finals. And semifinals."

"We know, Li," Louis said consolingly. "Why don't you text him, now that you've got his number? That way he'll have yours."

"Yeah?" Liam asked. "Yeah, alright, I can definitely do that."

_heyyy so lou said i should txt u so u have my # cuz i have yours and i guess its only fair :) good luck today im sure youll do great x_

If Liam were anyone else, she would have been distracted through rehearsals, with the combination of the 10 metre platform semifinals and the text to Tom looming over her. As it was, she channeled all of her energy into making her performance perfect, because if she had just ruined everything by putting an x at the end of that text—which she wasn't going to think about—then at the very least she could deliver a flawless performance at the London Olympics.

And if she dived onto her phone as soon as rehearsal ended, well, it wasn't really right of her bandmates to laugh at her.

"He's going to the finals!" Liam announced immediately after getting the news, even though she knew no one would be surprised or as excited as she was.

"Has he messaged you back yet?" Zayn asked, and Liam can already hear the concern in her voice.

"Well no," she looked down at her phone resolutely. "But he just finished with the semifinals, so I'm sure he has a lot to do, and my message doesn't really _need_ an immediate response..."

Liam was saved from her rambling by two text alerts, and she even had the self-awareness to be ashamed at how quickly she switched over to them.

_I'VE MADE IT THROUGH TO FINALS! Thanks for the good luck. :)_

_And thanks for your number. I can't wait to hang out! I think that maybe we should go out just us?_

Liam was not proud of her reaction, which may have included minor jumping up and down and a solitary "holy shit."

 

There was no way Zayn was ever going to let go of the fact that Liam shed a few tears when Tom won bronze that night. She was just really happy for him and Team GB. That's all.

 

After what felt like no time at all, they were at the Olympic Stadium, had just had their final rehearsal, and Liam was still nearly inappropriately excited about _everything_.

"I cannot believe that we're going to be performing at the _Olympics_ ," she said for what seemed like the fiftieth time to everyone else in the band. "And I might have a date with Tom Daley, and it's really Niall's fault but I'm not angry with any of you about that interview anymore." Liam couldn't stop moving, bouncing her leg and fidgeting with her hands and they had _hours_ before any of their other commitments. "I—I think I need to go somewhere. I need to do something."

"Yes you do!" Louis agreed. "Let's go!" He grabbed her hand and started pulling her away from the others who were clearly relieved to have Liam out of their hair for a moment.

"Are we—we're not supposed to leave though?"

"They gave us passes! This was your idea, Liam, don't try to take it back now."

Dragged along by Louis and showing her pass when necessary, Liam found herself walking into the Aquatics Centre and felt it would be appropriate to text Tom.

_guess what im in the aquatics centreee with Lou !!_

"Shall we watch water polo?" Louis asked.

"Shouldn't we have tickets for that?"

Louis' responding look was all eyebrows and pursed lips.

"Well we should!"

Liam was distracted from her scolding by a message on her phone. _I'll come find you! :)_ She thrust her phone toward Louis' face wordlessly, smiling widely.

"Well, goodbye!" Louis announced, beginning to walk away.

Liam grabbed his wrist and attempted to pull him back. " _What_? You can't just leave! Why would you _leave_? What if one of us gets caught and we're alone and we get in trouble?"

"I'll be back sooner that you'd like, I'm sure. I'm just giving you and _Tom_ time to...chat."

" _Louis_!" Liam called, but he had already left her leaning against the wall in the limited access hallway he had originally led them to. Luckily she only had a few minutes to wait before Tom entered the hallway as well.

"Oh! I didn't realize you were hiding out back here!" he said, smiling.

"Yeah... we've got these passes, and Louis wanted to take full advantage of them and see how behind-the-scenes we could get."

Tom laughed and joined her against the wall. "Where'd Louis go off to now?"

"I'm not sure..." Liam answered a bit bitterly, furrowing her brow. "He said he'd be back, though, which is good because I'm not quite sure how to get out of here."

"I could help, if you wanted to leave," Tom offered.

Liam turned to face him head-on, pressing her shoulder against the wall and using her other hand to twirl the hem of her t-shirt around a finger. "I think I'm okay to stay here, for a bit."

"That's good," Tom shook his head solemnly.

"So..." Liam started, "where would you like to go to celebrate your medal? We could go to a club or something—Josh has been talking up this one recently—or we could do something else. We could see a movie? Or just get dinner somewhere quieter?"

"Something quiet, with just us, maybe?" Tom suggested. "If that's okay with you?"

"Yeah?" Liam responded. "I mean, yeah. Of course. I sort of hate clubs."

"Why'd you suggest one, then?" Tom laughed.

"In case you liked them!" Liam attempted to explain. "We're supposed to be celebrating you, remember?"

"Well, that was very nice of you. But you know what I'd really like?"

"What?" Liam noticed that the tops of Tom's cheeks were coloring a bit, but she was pretty positive the conversation couldn't _really_ be going in the direction Louis had hinted at, not _already_.

"For you to kiss me," Tom answered, and Liam could only hope that the tiny stutter in her breathing sounded more like a sigh than a gasp. "Right now. So that I don't have to do it first."

"I can do that," Liam answered, while her brain argued, _No, actually, I don't think you can_. She leaned toward Tom and, once she sensed him leaning a bit as well, she repeated, softer, "Yeah, I can do that."

 

And of course Louis arrived a minute later, saying something about how he'd texted security a picture of this part of the Aquatics Centre as part of a find-Liam-and-Louis game and that now they had to find a new hiding spot, but Liam's lip balm was already smeared onto Tom's lips and smiles were permanently affixed to their faces despite any amount of teasing Louis proceeded to engage in.

 

The mocking Liam received for having to touch up her makeup after a quick pre-performance snog prior to the closing ceremony was also worth it, she decided.

 

News of the August 12 kisses never found its way to any gossip magazines, but Liam and Tom's first solo outing did, and her bandmates never hesitated to read the headlines aloud dramatically:

**OLYMPIC ATHLETE TOM DALEY WINS BRONZE MEDAL—AND A GIRLFRIEND?**

**ONE DIRECTION'S LIAM PAYNE AND TOM DALEY DATING?**

**LIAM PAYNE AND TOM DALEY—IT'S OFFICIAL!**


End file.
